Eight More Tricks to Keep Your Money at Home

Here a dozen ways you can save money for your future – without spending anymore than you do now! In fact, more often they cost you nothing at all.

1. Simply keep four extra coins to make a full dollar.

[Found via getrichslowly.org]

How often do you get asked “Have you got twenty cents?” ?. If you don’t – you get a handful of spare-change!. This is easily fixed by keeping four extra smaller-denomination coins in your pocket. Why let the shops have your big money?

The biggest advantage of this idea is that it fixed the age old problem of having too much money in your pocket. Have you noticed that you spend your money faster when you have more of it?

Wait, let me rephrase that: Five $20’s or one $100 note – which would stay longer in your wallet? Yes, the $100 note. Why? Because, like most people, you think, “Oh, it’s only ONE $20 note, I have four others!” A common trap that most of us fall into.

So if you are going to take money out of the bank, ensure it is in big notes. When you spend your money, make sure you are not spending your savings – only your play-money. And when you want less metal in your pocket, have some spare for the retail-shop owner. You’ll find you get better service for it. Best of all, It is transferable to any country you live in.

2. If you feel secure, keep your money at an online bank.

Yes, the internet is a great place to store your money. How often do you find yourself staring at an item in a shop, only to be told you can find it a lot cheaper at eBAY? I have. Whilst perusing through the limited options of PDA’s at Harvey Norman’s, I spotted a young man with his PDA. I asked him how much and where from – to which he replied, “$100 on eBAY! HN sells this for $600 – but who wants to spend that much?!” When I asked why he was in the store, he commented that his friend was seeing what was available, physically touching the product – before going back to eBAY.

This is a brilliant idea, two-fold. It pays to touch the product, to know exactly what you are getting – but it pays off even more to purchase the goods online.

Therefore an online bank account can save you more money. The only cost you might have is to the online bank. Some charge fees for transactions, so make sure you spend enough to justify the account costs. I don’t recommend this action to everyone, only those with secure online connections and a lot of faith in internet security. You’d want to have broadband/ADSL or ADSL2, and a good security system on your computer. Not for the faint of heart!

3. This one is simple and easy: Set long-term goals with a buddy.

My wife and I use this principal every time we want something that costs more than one of us earns in a fortnight. First we have to agree that the item is a worthy addition to our household. Evidently photographic equipment requires less argument, whereas a new lounge or vacuum requires months of exhausting research! Nonetheless, both of us need to agree that the purchase is worth saving for.

Simply put, we save our money to make large purchases – rather than simply whipping out the credit card.

There are advantages and winning reasons why we do it this way: By saving to make the purchase, we appreciate the product a whole lot more. When things are purchased willy-nilly, without thought, it is easily forgotten about. Not in our household. If a camera-lens costs $700, then it will get a severe work-out during its life-time. Therefore saving up to purchase it outright ensures we appreciate and care for it while we have it!

Therefore, find yourself someone to share the reasoning with, someone to help you save the money. Marrying someone with similar thoughts about spending and saving is a big advantage – ask any billionaire!

4. This one has a few pros and cons, but is a rather good idea: Opening a store credit card to get a discount, then cutting it up.

If you rarely use credit cards, or have no concern for your “credit rating“, firstly, you are one of very few people! But should you really exist, this is a great idea.

Mainly because you get the store-discount to make your purchases – and if you are smart, never use that credit card again. The downside to that would probably be that you can never use that store ever again – because your name is on their records as having a credit-card. This might have worked better in America in the 1980’s when credit-fraud was being born, but it’s a harder trick to pull in this millennium.

The main thing to realise is that “…Credit card companies make money from interest and fees. No activity on the card, no interest and fees.“

5. Don’t purchase the extended warranty on a digital camera nor the camcorder.

According to ConsumerReports.org, laptops repair-rates were over 40% during 2006, cameras had only 10% of customers returning for repairs. Therefore because few people need to go back to have their camera’s repaired it’s unlikely they would have needed the extended-warranty offered at the time of purchase.

If you feel you must buy an extended warranty, first check your credit-card to see if it provides a similar coverage. If you have a gold-card with your bank, (presumably because you earn a lot thus can repay within 30days) it’s probable that you have a longer warranty on purchase you make.

You might like to shop around. Paying for longer warranty times usually adds more cost to the goods. Be like my wife: Haggle till it appears to hurt the seller.

Oh, and don’t fall for the trap of paying for delivery. It is really amazing, if you watch my wife, the things that will fit in the back seat of a car. From floating-floor boards through to a 12foot Xmas tree, most things can be taken home on the spot. If it needs installation? Make good friends with any tradesman, particularly an electrician! It’s amazing how many trades can be made in goodwill or barter.

6. Of the fifty ways to save money offered, ThisIsMoney gives this good one: Learn to say ‘no’.

It’s amazing how often I spot parents at the supermarket with a smile on their face and their child in the trolley sucking on a sweet. What’s going on here? That little kid was heard wailing up the aisles three minutes earlier – and now it is placated with a $1 tooth-destroyer. Ok, OK, before all the parents out there tell me they just had to get that darn kid to shut up – Look a long hard look at your shopping budget. Did you plan to spend a few dollars on appeasing your child’s tantrums? Did you know your child was going to scream when they got to the store? If yes, what can you do BEFORE you get to the store to ensure neither happens? Parenting, people, good healthy parenting, means saying NO effectively. It’s not rocket science.

That’s six I could locate. Have you got any money tricks we can all use?